Student protesters sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinians have adopted similar tactics to those used by anti-war protesters in 1968. Grievances are escalated to the point of no return. Significant interruptions to the functioning of campus take place by staging an occupation.
What’s happening at Columbia University now can be understood through what happened on campus 56 years ago, almost to the day. Understanding what happened in 1968 gives us a situation easier to grasp than the emotionally laden current events, and can provide us with constructive clues to help undo the predicament tearing universities apart today.
Campuses torn apart
One segment of the university community is sympathetic to the impacts of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and hostage-taking by Hamas. A class action complaint claiming antisemitism has been filed, and statements contending a lack of safety for Jewish students on the Columbia campus have been made.
Claims of Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism on the Columbia campus have also been made, and a Title IX civil rights complaint has been filed with allegations of discriminatory treatment of Palestinian students and their allies.
A house divided into two distinct camps regarding views on the Israel-Hamas war is perhaps an oversimplification of a diverse university campus environment, where many choose to avoid Middle East politics entirely as the path to civil dialogue is elusive .
Be that as it may, with loud voices present and emotions running high in a house divided, I lament that dispassionate observation and analysis are becoming drowned out in the noise.
The 1968 Columbia crisis
While there are no easy solutions to overcoming the predicament facing many campuses, considering campus crisis events from long ago can help mend fences.
The cumulative tensions related to war and peace issues reached a boiling point in the spring of 1968 for Columbia University students. An important similarity between 1968 and 2024 is that just as anti-Vietnam War protesters personalized the conflict, present day university students engaged in Gaza War protests are also making a distant war personal .
In The Strawberry Statement: Notes of a College Revolutionary , author James Kunen provides insights into the mindset of a student on the front lines of the protests at Columbia. At the time, Kunen was a 20-year-old writing about trying to find his own place in a turbulent environment.
It is not too soon to have concerns that in August the Democratic National Convention in Chicago may be interrupted by Gaza War protests. The 1968 Democratic National Convention , which was also held in Chicago, was overshadowed by disruptive anti-Vietnam War protests.
An open question is whether students who are presently engaged in campus protests will take their dissent off campus during the summer months when school is out.
In a quote from the 1927 play A Moon for the Misbegotten , American playwright Eugene O'Neill seems to have written presciently about the current state of affairs on university campuses: “There is no present or future — only the past, happening over and over again — now.”
Jack L. Rozdilsky receives support for research communication and public scholarship from York University. He also has received research support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
Welcome to NewsBreak, an open platform where diverse perspectives converge. Most of our content comes from established publications and journalists, as well as from our extensive network of tens of thousands of creators who contribute to our platform. We empower individuals to share insightful viewpoints through short posts and comments. It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency: our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. We strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation. Join us in shaping the news narrative together.
Comments / 0